Baby basket stand and rocking device



June 14, 1966 J.J.WALDHE1M ETAL 3,255,465

BABY BASKET STAND AND ROCKING DEVICE Filed June 26, 1962 waff /J /43,255,465 BABY BASKET STAND AND ROCKING DEVICE Jack J. Waldheim, Mequon,and Earl H. Koepke, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Martha Fredman,Milwaukee, Wis.

Filed .lune 26, 1962, Ser. No. 205,358 2 Claims. (Cl. 5-109) Thisinvention relates to a baby basket stand and rocking device. A

The invention consists of a stand having a platform for supporting ababy basket or other unit which is to be oscillated, said stand beingprovided with legs which will accommodate oscillation in a lateralhorizontal plane but' not in a longitudinal horizontal plane at rightangles thereto, and with a weigh-t which is driven in a horizontalcircular path. The legs provide an essentially simple but highlyeffective means for converting the circular motion of the weight into alateral oscillation of the stand, which is readily variable as to therate and extent of oscillation.'

The chain upon which the weight is supported serves as a speed control,through variation of its length.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the stand of my invention with ababy basket thereon.

F IG. 2 is an end elevational view.

FIG. 3 is a top-plan view of my stand without the baby basket.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

The drawings disclose a stand for a baby basket having a rigid upperrectangular frame composed of side members and 11, end members 12 and13, and lateral central brace 14. Legs are secured to each corner of theupper frame, designated generally as 9, and extend outwardly therefromat a slight angle.

At each end of the device the pair of legs at that end are connected bya lower cross brace 16. The two cross braces 16 are in turn connected bya central horizontal lower brace 17.

YUpper lateral cross brace 14 supports a motor 18 which is provi-dedwith a cord 19 and a plug 20 to plug into a conventional wall outlet. Aswitch may be provided if desired.

Motor 18 is secured to the underside of brace 14, as for instance by'bolts 22. Motor 18 is of a conventional type which rotates at a speeddependent on the applied load (if the power supply is constant), andpreferably is provided with a gear case 23 unitary with the main motorenclosure containing gears which reduce the normal speed of the motor toapproximately the desired rate of oscillation of upper framework 9. Amotor output shaft 24 extends from gear case 23 and is provided at itslower end with a laterally extending support hook 25 secured to themotor shaft by a screw 26.

A weight 27 hangs from a chain 28 made up of links 29, one of which isengaged with support hook 25 to support the weight on the motor shaft24.

When switch 21 is turned to a position which supplies current to motor18the weight 27 swings in `a horizontal circle, the radius, height andcircumference of which depends on the speed of motor output shaft 24 andthe length of chain 28. The speed is regulated by engaging a differentlink 29 of chain 28 with hook 25, to change the effective length,height, and radius of the path traveled by weight 27, thus changing theload applied to motor 18 i United States Patent Patented Jene 14, 1966through shaft 24 and forcing it to speed up or slow down to a newequilibrium speed.' The latter means of adjustment will affect not onlythe speed of rotation but also the magnitude of the oscillation impartedto stand 9 by rotation of the weight. When the chain is shortened theoscillations become more frequent, but decrease in magnitude.

The legs are made of relatively thin sheets of resilient material suchas y" hardboard, having only moderate resistance to flexing in a planeat right angles to their surfaces. They are attached to the sides of topframe 9 by wood screws 30, or other conventional fastening devices, sothat the plane of the surface of leg 15 extends longitudinally of theupper frame 9, and are so shaped that they incline longitudinallydownwardly and outwardly, to give further longitudinal stability. Asbest shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the outside edges of side members 10 of topframe 9 are inclined laterally downwardly and outwardly so that attachedlegs 15 also incline slightly laterally downwardly and outwardly to givethe upper support frame 9 lateral stability when motor 18 is not inoperation, despite the lateral resilience of legs 15. This lateralsupport must not be so great that it prevents lateral oscillation of theframe on the legs under the influence of weight 27 revolving about shaft24.

The angles at which legs 15 are placed, their resilience, the speed ofmotor 18, and the mass of weight 27, are chosen to overcome thestabilizing forces due to the lateral inclination of legs 15 only whenmotor 18 is i-n operation, and to impart a lateral oscillation of thedesired period and magnitude to stand 9, in view of the mass to beplaced on stand 9, such as fbaby basket 31. Rotation of weight 27 is notable to impart a longitudinal oscillation to stand 9 because of thewidth of legs 15 and their greater inclination in the longitudinal planethan in the lateral plane. Accordingly, baby basket 31 wil oscillatelaterally at a controllable speed in a simple but effective manner.

It will, of course, be appreciated that other rotating devices could beused to supply power to rotate the weight and `to regulate the speed ofthe oscillation produced thereby, for i-nstance a spring motor equippedwith a speed regulating escapement or with a flyball governor could besubstituted for motor 18. A rheostat could also be incorporated inswitch21 for motor 18, but chain 28 is the preferred speed control.

It will be seen that applicant has provided an extremely simple buteffective device for rocking a baby which co-nverts the revolution of aweight to a lateral rocking motion of the upper platform portion of astand for a baby basket by means of the construction and inclination ofthe 'flexible legs of the stand, and regulates the speed thereof byvarying the length of the support for the weight and the mass of theweight.

The working parts of my device may be covered, if desired, but this isnot essential. It may also prove desirable to cover the weight with asoft cover to prevent accidents to children.

The Word platform as used herein refers to a structure extending in agenerally horizontal plane which is capable of supporting a baby basketor the like, regardless of whether the platform is closed or open inconstruction.

We claim: 1. A stand for a baby basket comprising a rigid upperhorizontal platform, a plurality of laterally resilient longitudinallyrigid supports for said platform, a weight, and

a 4 sa means attached to said platform for revolving said weightReferences Cited bythe Examiner in a horizontal plane, exibleweight-supporting means UNITED STATES PATENTS between said weight andsaid means for revolving said Weight, said weight-supporting means beingadjustable in 2002765 5/1935 Carpenter ur-9- 5 104 length, each of saidplurality of supports comprising `a 5 2633580 4/1953 Dooley 5 '1092,916,745 12/1959 Lesk et al. 5-109 sheet of material which is laterallythin and resilient and i-s longitudinally wide and nonflexible.

2. The device of claim 1 in which each said sheet of FRANK B- SHERRY,Primary Exmlnel'- material is inclined downwardly and outwardly fromsaid platform in Iboth the lateral and the longitudinal planes, 10CHANCELLOR E' HARRIS Exammer' said inclination being greater in thelongitudinal plane. R. D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A STAND FOR A BABY BASKET COMPRISING A RIGID UPPER HORIZONTALPLATFORM, A PLURALITY OF LATERALLY RESILIENT LONGITUDINALLY RIGIDSUPPORTS FOR SAID PLATFORM, A WEIGHT, AND MEANS ATTACHED TO SAIDPLATFORM FOR REVOLVING SAID WEIGHT IN A HORIZONTALL PLANE, FLEXIBLEWEIGHT-SUPPORTING MEANS BETWEEN SAID WEIGHT AND SAID MEANS FORRELVOLVING SAID WEIGHT, SAID WEIGHT-SUPPORTING MEANS BEING ADJUSTABLE INLENGTH, EACH OF SAID PLURALITY OF SUPPORTS COMPRISING A SHEET OFMATERIAL WHICH IS LATERALLY THIN AND RESILIENT AND IS LONGITUDINALLYWIDE AND NONFLEXIBLE.